Quick Fit with Cassy

Hello, I'm Cassy, and this is Quick Fit, an easy and approachable workout for those of you who want to live better, longer. Today's class will focus on strengthening the bones of the lower body with zero impact body weight moves. No need for extra weights, as these moves will be challenging enough without. So let's get moving.

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In today's class, we'll be using a chair. Make sure you don't have one with wheels and preferably without arms. It's just a really great tool. And later on in the class, we'll be seated. And go ahead and take your shoes off because they're part of the lower body, the muscles and joints that we need to strengthen. Let's just shift your weight, using your foot to push you over. Don't lean over. Lift the heel, use the strength of the feet and toes. In fact, go ahead and grip your mat with your toes. Starting to find the strength again. It can take quite a while for your feet muscles to wake up and be reconnected with the brain for you actually to feel the strength in your feet and toes, but be patient. All right, so lift that heel, and now let's imagine there's like a grapefruit or something we wanna squish with the heel, so press some weight down through that heel. Try not to let the knee go forward. In fact, push the hips back and force straight down through the shin. Let's do the other side. Grip with the knees, grip with the toes, and push down through the knees, there you go. Heel up, press it down, heel up, press it down. One more time, very good. And now just some around the world and land. Try to control the land, not just falling. Toes and control it to the heel, around and land. Tighten your core. This helps you to not just fall, and then we'll do the other side. All right, circle and land. Good. Remember, we're putting force down through the feet, the ankles, and the shins. All right. Feet about shoulder width apart, hip width apart, just some nice easy heel lifts, alternating one side and then the other. You can always have the chair handy if you feel a little wobbly. Sometimes our mats are a little too thick, makes you feel a little unsteady. All right. All right, two feet side by side. We're gonna be lifting our heels, knees bent, heels down, go ahead and stand. All right, heels up. Bend those knees, heels down and stand. Bend, nice stretch for the calf, isn't that? Lift the heel and stand. Heels down, we'll do one more. Just bend the knees, heels up, stand all the way and down, very good. All right, let's do some plis, so more of that foot work, but now let's squeeze your muscles as you're lowering your hips down. Make sure your knees are as wide as your feet, and that your knees and toes are facing the same direction. Not everybody can do this. Some of us need to be more in like a wide, riding a pony kind of a stance. So the knees and toes are forward, so find what you can do, but keep pressing the knees to the back. Squeezing the hind end, single heel lift, heel lift. Make sure you're gripping with your toes. Lift. Very good. A few more.

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Go ahead and breathe as heavy as you need to. You need oxygen for these muscles that are working, especially all of these bigger muscles between your knees and your belly button. Lift, lift, lift. All right, now let's press it up and then come back down. That's enough of a break. We're gonna do doubles now. Two heels, you ready? Lift, it's helpful to have the chair. You can have it next to you, or you can have it right in front of you if you need. This is the hardest part. All right, and a little stretch, down and up. All right, for this part, we're going to go down slowly, one, two, three, and then explode. Very good. Down, two, three, explode. Down, two, three, and explode, push through those heels, okay? So squeeze on the way down and push through the heels and explode up. Down, two, three, explode. Let's do two more of these. Down, two, three, explode. Down, two, three, and up. All right, good, now we'll do the opposite, so fast, and these muscles have to stop you from landing on the floor. And then up, two, three, down. Up, two, three, down. Up, two, three, few more.

inhales

Push through those heels on the way up. Down, then squeeze, two, three. Keep those knees wide as your ankles. And last one. Very, very good. All right, position your chair so that you can stand in front of it. And we'll do some squats down toward the chair. We're not actually going to sit in it yet. So don't be too far in front of the chair, and move your weight back over the top of it. Open those knees, don't let this happen. Okay, just hover

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and up, two, three. Down, opening the knees. Weight through your heels. Okay, some of us sit like this, and that's not very good for the knees. So push the knees back, butt back, and up. All right, a little bit of a hover here. Imagine whatever is behind you is dirty, and you don't wanna touch it.

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And up. Let's do about five of 'em, just a little fast, until you can touch the seat, but you're not putting your weight on the seat. Press through your heels and down, press. All right, last one and own every inch of it, every centimeter. And sit with purpose, don't just fall. All right, so we'll adjust your feet just a little bit, not really much different than what they were just a moment ago. Nice V from your hips. I want you to lean out until you can push through the heels. And when you push through the heels, you can feel yourself come light on the chair. Press. And you know you're doin' it right. And if you can't get your weight up yet, that's okay. In a few months, you'll be strong enough, and you'll start getting up. So we have to reactivate all those muscles on the back of our legs. Very good, and terrific. All right, let's cross, and now we're going to do a single leg get up, and you might not be able to do this. Maybe you have to cross your ankles or put one foot on top of the other or have one in the air. You'll see what I mean. We'll pull your ankle slightly back of your knee. Same thing that we just did with two feet, but with one, except you'll have one hand by the side of the chair so you don't fall over. Let's, all right, so just a little bit of hand for balance and push through that foot. All right, so right now you're just activating those muscles in the back of your leg. And many people that take my class don't get up out of the chair, so don't be hard on yourself, but it's still a great way to strengthen your legs individually. All right, you could have two hands, but don't use them to push. Let's use our legs, and now let's switch. Two hands or one hand down, one hand forward. You ready? Lean out, lean, lean, lean, and then just aggressively push with that heel. Ready, lean and push. This is about balancing the body to make sure that both sides of your body are equally strong. When one leg is stronger than the other, that's an imbalance that leads to pain. Press. Press. All right, let's stretch it out. These aren't easy, are they? All right, just extend that right leg, sit on the very edge of your seat. Start by being very tall,

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and let's just pull those toes right away. I know you felt that all the way from your foot to your hind end. And if you feel like you can move forward without caving your chest in, if you've got room to move forward, do so to get a deeper stretch in the hamstring. Inhale,

inhales

exhale.

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Let's do the other side. So start with the foot down, lift through the chest. For many of you, this is enough, just a slight forward lean at the hip. Inhale,

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pull that foot up.

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Exhale. It's tight all the way down behind my calf.

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Inhale and blow.

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We are out of time already. Oh, I hear you, saved by the bell, right? That may have seemed hard today, but in time you'll breeze through a workout like this and know that you've gotten stronger. Keep up the good work and come back often to my classes on pbswisconsin.org/quickfit because a strong body that can easily move is the key to aging well. See you soon.